|
|
|
|
|
Jesus in the Quran Movement
25 Sep 2009
by Joie Pirkey
Since August 24, when I sent out the last Shouts of Joy Ministries Newsletter, I have received a large number of articles about how the Church, most claiming the Emergent Church,
are pigeonholing Christianity with Islam. But through my extensive research these past few weeks I have found that this C5 Contextualization movement (also known as Common Ground; Insiders; or Jesus in the
Quran) has also been seeping into evangelical churches. Many of the churches that I have found are large, Seeker-Sensitive types.
One church promoting this movement through conferences that teach that Muslims can remain in Islam and be "Christ Followers", and also teach that we should honor Mohammad,
is Grace Fellowship Church in Atlanta. This is their web site: http://www.jesusinthequran.org/?cat=11.
Here is
a quote from the above link regarding Muslims coming into the kingdom of God through Islam: "Listen, I know there's been a lot of bad blood and misunderstanding between Christians and Muslims over the years.
But we actually have quite a bit in common. And I believe that both you and me desire to love and honor the one true God. I promise I will never ask you to become a Christian."
The schedule they have listed on their website for the "Jesus in the Quran" conferences is as follows:
- August 14-15 First Baptist Woodstock, Woodstock GA
- August 21-22 Christ the Rock Church, Appleton WI
- Sept 11-12 Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA
- Oct 30-31 Harambee Church, Seattle WA
- Nov 20-21 Grace Fellowship, Snellville GA
I am going to post below quotes from some of the articles that have been emailed to me to give you an idea of what is emerging in our nation. In the next newsletter I'll get into what this
movement is actually teaching along with a sound biblical refutation.
But for today, as thousands of Muslims gather at the United States Capitol to worship this false god, I believe that the one true God is calling us to take notice. Something evil is stirring in our land.
The spirit of the age is at work. Will you sit back and be hearers only? Or will you use your voice, your open doors, and your resources to spread the pure and sincere milk of the Word, the undefiled
gospel of Jesus Christ, calling all men to be disciples of the Son of God?
It is time to take a stand against this pigeonholing of Christianity and Islam. God hates this and He is calling us to speak the truth.
Joie Pirkey
Shouts of Joy Ministries
Worldnet Daily Exclusive Commentary
'Christians' celebrating Ramadan?
Posted: August 25, 2009
By Joel Richardson
Entire article: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107812
"This year, a group of emergent Christians led by one of the United States most influential pastors, Brian McLaren, has announced that it will actually be "observing" the Muslim holy month,
along with a Muslim "partner." Ramadan is the month that Muslims thank Allah, their god, for revealing the Quran to Muhammad, their prophet. On McLaren's personal blog, he recently announced
his intentions: "We, as Christians, humbly seek to join Muslims in this observance of Ramadan as a God-honoring expression of peace, fellowship, and neighborliness." But does such an interreligious
observance go beyond mere "neighborliness" and cross the line of religious compromise and syncretism? Does observing the religious holy month of Ramadan create the impression of an endorsement of Islam?"
"What is also so concerning to observers of the growing emergent Christian movement is its tendencies to rarely express the Christian gospel while loudly and often proclaiming either a
classic humanist message or outright religious pluralism. McLaren and other emergent leaders are often heard expressing the need to de-emphasize "doctrinal barriers" between various religions
including Christianity and Islam.
While Jesus was adamant that adherence to the Christian message would cause a measure of division between peoples of differing religious persuasions, Campolo staunchly disagrees.
Speaking on the relations between Muslims and Christians, in an interview by Shane Claiborne, Campolo demands, "We cannot allow our theologies to separate us."
The trend to de-emphasize doctrine by prominent teachers such as McLaren and Campolo has caused deep concern among many conservative theologians and pastors because such opinions likewise tend to
cause the central Christian message to be significantly de-emphasized as well. "I'm not convinced that Jesus only lives in Christians," stated Campolo. In fact, he has even gone so far as to say he
believes many Muslims do not even need to be evangelized.
What can I say to an Islamic brother who has fed the hungry, and clothed the naked? You say, "But he hasn't a personal relationship with Christ." I would argue with that.
And I would say from a Christian perspective, in as much as you did it to the least of these you did it unto Christ. You did have a personal relationship with Christ, you just didn't know it."
The corrosive nature of this liberal and somewhat experimental approach to Christianity has taken on even more significant expressions in recent years. In 2007, Episcopal priestess Rev.
Anne Holmes announced that she had become a Christian-Muslim. The Christian Post reported the story:
A Seattle priest has become a Muslim while also retaining her clergy status in the Episcopal Church. Her local bishop has described the development as "exciting." "I look through Jesus and
I see Allah," explained the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding to the "Seattle Times," which reported that Redding puts on her Islamic headscarf on Fridays and her clerical collar on Sundays. ... she still
sees Jesus as her Savior, even if not divine, and plans to remain both a priest and an Episcopalian. Bishop Vincent Warner of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia told the Seattle Times that Redding's
embrace of Islam has not been controversial in his diocese.
As in Seattle, so also now in Nigeria and China, there is a small but growing movement of what some are calling "Chrislam," a movement that seeks to combine Christianity and Islam, preaching
from both the Quran and the Bible. One Chrislamic gathering brings in roughly 1,500 adherents each week.
Each year, tens of thousands of Americans convert to Islam, including many who were raised in a Christian church. Many students of Bible prophecy see all of this as part of the fulfillment
of what the Bible predicted long ago when it described the "great falling away" (1 Timothy 4:1, 2; Thessalonians 2:3).
The word orthodoxy comes from the Greek and essentially means "straight belief." Correct practice (orthopraxy) always flows out of orthodoxy. As the plowman would grasp the plow,
he would fix his eyes on some distant mark on the far side of the field. The goal was to walk as straight as possible to the other end. Any small departure would result in missing the desired destination.
From this picture we have the idea behind Christian orthodoxy. Each generation makes an attempt to pass on that which was faithfully delivered to them before extending back to the apostles and to Christ.
This week, one group of Christians will gaze upon the opposite end of the field and resolutely walk forward for 30 days with determination to cry out for their Muslim friends to become Christians.
The other group, led by one of the most influential pastors in the United States, will be embracing a whole new tradition.
The Apostle John warned that the doctrine of the antichrist was seen in any denial of the Father and the Son: No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son
has the Father also. (1 John 2:22, 23) Yet Islam's Quran says that anyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God commits the greatest blasphemy imaginable. They said, "The Most Gracious has
begotten a son"! You have uttered a gross blasphemy. (Quran 19:88) Some, like Rev. Ann Holmes or the Chrislamic "churches" in Nigeria, have abandoned orthodoxy altogether and aligned themselves
with this antichrist revelation. As to where the emerging church finally ends up is yet to be seen. But if choosing to observe a month dedicated to thanking Allah for inspiring such brazen anti-Christ
theology is any indication, I think we can safely say they are probably not even on the right field to begin with."
MIXING ISLAM with CHRISTIANITY - WARNING
TWO EXTRACTS are BELOW-
(1) 'Evangelical Christians' now thanking Allah
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
- http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107816
Leaders of the "emergent church" movement within evangelical
Christianity are "observing" the Muslim month of Ramadan, writes
the author of the bestselling new book, "The Islamic Antichrist,"
which contends that the Beast of Revelation is most likely to
emerge from within the Muslim world.
"This year, a group of "Emergent Christians," led by one of the
United States' most influential pastors, Brian McLaren have
announced they will actually be 'observing' the Muslim holy month,
along with a Muslim 'partner,'" writes Joel Richardson in a WND
commentary today. "Ramadan is the month that Muslims thank
Allah, their god, for revealing the Quran to Muhammad, their prophet.
On McLaren's personal blog, he recently announced his intentions:
'We, as Christians, humbly seek to join Muslims in this observance
of Ramadan as a God-honoring expression of peace, fellowship,
and neighborliness.'"
Richardson adds that McLaren is not fasting for the salvation of his
Muslim friends.
"Instead he is seeking through the practice of this Islamic ritual to
promote 'the common good, together with people of other faith
traditions,'" he writes.
"The Bible abounds with proofs that the Antichrist's empire will
consist only of nations that are, today, Islamic," says Richardson.
"Despite the numerous prevailing arguments for the emergence of
a revived European Roman empire as the Antichrist's power base,
the specific nations the Bible identifies as comprising his empire
are today all Muslim." [- www.wnd.com ]
(2) "Common Ground Conference" - Pigeonholing Christianity with Islam
-by Joie Pirkey.
On August 17, 2009, I sent out a prophecy that the Lord gave me in
September of 2007 that contained this statement, "leaders of the
Church, were already beginning to publicly postulate that Islam was,
in effect, quite like Christianity. They would proceed to give examples
of our similarities and begin to, and He used the term, "pigeonhole",
Christianity with Islam. This in effect would erode the line of
demarcation between Islam and Christianity and He said that He
"hates this."
On July 20, 2009, I posted this vision... I didn't know why, at the
time, the Lord was pushing so urgently for me to get that vision
posted, but in retrospect, I think that He wanted it posted before
this non-biblical paradigm was introduced and taught in the Fox Valley.
As people in our region began to read these posted prophecies, I
began to get a number of emails saying that [a] Community Church
was in fact hosting a "Common Ground" Conference on August 21,
2009... they are in fact "pigeonholing" Christianity with Islam...
This subject of pigeonholing Christianity with Islam is very serious.
It is spreading quickly and it is breaking down the line of demarcation
between Christianity and Islam. God has said that He hates this.
At many junctures as I attempt to write this article I find myself
wanting to take up a theological debate regarding how what this
movement is teaching is not biblically sound but God keeps bringing
me back to tell you that He hates this. He wants you to hear His
heart, to allow what He hates to impact you and your choices and
your passions.
-Joie Pirkey.
VISIT HER WEBSITE - http://shoutsofjoyministries.com/articles/
See our website and discussion board-
http://www.revivalschool.com
MODERATOR:
Andrew Strom.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
By Joshua Rhett Miller
"As many as 50,000 American Muslims are expected to gather on Capitol Hill Friday for the religion's first-ever national prayer rally, organizers of the event say."
II John 1:5-11
Amplified
I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us,
and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning. I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body.
Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. Anyone who wanders away from
this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach
the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.
|
|
|
|
